1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to an apparatus and program for applying patch data to at least a part of a plurality of patch application target files in a system.
2. Description of the Related Art
There can be a necessity to apply a patch (patch data) to a product to improve a function etc. after delivering to a client the product as a system of a server etc. In this case, the patch data is normally brought to the client, and applied to the product. However, in many cases, a system resource file (file whose settings are changed by a system administrator) of a product is changed from the default after the delivery of the product depending on the convenience of a purchaser of the product. If a patch is applied to a product with the system resource file changed, then the system resource file may be forcibly replaced and rewritten by a certain patch data. If the operation of the product is resumed in this state, the operation is different from that performed before the application of the patch because the system resource file has been changed, thereby possibly bringing about trouble to the purchaser. Since the level of the influence of a patch application is known only after the application of the patch, the currently available method is to separately hold the state before a patch application as disclosed by the patent document 1 (Japanese Published Patent Application No. H2-110635), apply a patch, and restore the state to the original state if any trouble occurs.
However, in the conventional patch application method disclosed by the patent document 1, a patch is applied by copying a file to be amended in a separate area, but file contents changed by the patch application are not checked. As shown in FIG. 10, in the conventional technology, a patch application target file (system resource file) is first saved (backup copy), and then a patch is applied to an operating system. Then, the file whose contents have been changed by the application of the patch is individually compared with the saved file to check the changed contents. If a resetting is required as a result of the check, the system administrator individually performs resetting in a series of operations. Without the resetting operation, a malfunction occurs in the system. Therefore, it is necessary to check and reset each system resource file after the application of a patch, thereby causing the problem that a badly troublesome operation is required each time a patch is applied.